Park Board cuts could close youth, senior centers

About 100 people, mostly seniors, showed up at the Spokane Park Board meeting Thursday to complain about proposed cuts in the 2012 budget that could result in the closure of youth and senior centers.

Among them was Bonnie McDade, of the Southside Senior and Community Center.

“It’s maddening,” McDade said.

The board is expected to reach a decision on cutting as much as $600,000 from the recreation budget by November, giving some centers, like McDade’s, about six weeks to come up with alternative funding.

She estimated that there are 450,000 visits a year to the 10 centers, some of which get nearly half their total budgets from the city.

The West Central Community Center is at risk of losing the $72,000 it receives each year for after-school programs and recreation – about a third of its budget, said Victor Frazier, president of the center’s board.

He said the center has already taken a $40,000 cut in federal Community Development Block Grant funds administered by the city.

Meanwhile, Frazier said, the Park Board is considering a 413 percent increase in Urban Forestry – which has been depleting its reserves – from $70,000 last year to $359,000 in 2012.

Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter, Park Board vice president, said after the public testimony that the only thing set in stone is the board’s Oct. 13 deadline to vote on a budget. How the board balances the budget is in flux.

No one is happy with the current proposal, she said, and the board has requested additional information and spreadsheets from staff.

“We have to be equitable when it comes to the centers, and they need more time to adjust to changes of this magnitude,” she said. “All of this is really in play and we’re trying to be even-handed about it.”

The Park Board has tentatively planned to meet again on the proposed cuts at 5 p.m. Sept. 22.